Chapter XII (2)

¶ _And by the word of their testimony._ The faithful testimony which they bore to the truth. That is, they adhered to the truth in their sufferings, they declared their belief in it, even in the pains of martyrdom; and it was by this that they overcame the great enemy――that is, by this that the belief in the gospel was established and maintained in the world. The reference here is to the effects of persecution and to the efforts of Satan to drive religion from the world by persecution. John says that the result as he saw it in vision was, that the persecuted church bore a faithful testimony to the truth, and that the great enemy was overcome. ¶ _And they loved not their lives unto the death._ They did not so love their lives that they were unwilling to die as martyrs. They did not shrink back when threatened with death, but remained firm in their attachment to their Saviour, and left their dying testimony to the truth and power of religion. It was by these means that Christianity was established in the world, and John, in the scene before us, saw it thus triumphant, and saw the angels and the redeemed in heaven celebrating the triumph. The result of the attempts to destroy the Christian religion by persecution demonstrated that it was to triumph. No more mighty power could be employed to crush it than was employed by the Roman emperors; and when it was seen that Christianity could survive those efforts to crush it it was certain {313} that it was destined to live for ever.

12 Therefore[388] rejoice, _ye_ heavens, and ye that dwell
in them. Woe[389] to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the
sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
because [390]he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

12. _Therefore rejoice, |ye| heavens._ It is not unusual in the Scriptures to call on the heavens and the earth to sympathize with the events that occur. Comp. Notes on Is. i. 2. Here the heavens are called on to rejoice because of the signal victory which it was seen would be achieved over the great enemy. Heaven itself was secure from any further rebellion or invasion, and the foundation was laid for a final victory over Satan everywhere. ¶ _And ye that dwell in them._ The angels and the redeemed. This is an instance of the sympathy of the heavenly inhabitants――the unfallen and holy beings before the throne――with the church on earth, and with all that may affect its welfare. Compare Notes on 1 Pe. i. 12. ¶ _Woe to the inhabiters of the earth._ This is not an imprecation, or a wish that woe _might_ come upon them, but a prediction that it _would_. The meaning is this: Satan would ultimately be entirely overcome――a fact that was symbolized by his being cast out of heaven; but there would be still temporary war upon the earth, as if he were permitted to roam over the world for a time and to spread woe and sorrow there. ¶ _And of the sea._ Those who inhabit the islands of the sea and those who are engaged in commerce. The meaning is, that the world as such would have occasion to mourn――the dwellers both on the land and on the sea. ¶ _For the devil is come down unto you._ As if cast out of heaven. ¶ _Having great wrath._ Wrath shown by the symbolical war with Michael and his angels (ver. 7); wrath increased and inflamed because he has been discomfited; wrath the more concentrated because he knows that his time is limited. ¶ _Because he knoweth that he hath but a short time._ That is, he knows that the time is limited in which he will be permitted to wage war with the saints on the earth. There is allusion elsewhere to the fact that the time of Satan is limited, and that he is apprised of that. Thus in Mat. viii. 29, “Art thou come hither to torment us _before the time_?” See Notes on that passage. Within that limited space, Satan knows that he must do all that he ever can do to destroy souls, and to spread woe through the earth, and hence it is not unnatural that he should be represented as excited to deeper wrath, and as rousing all his energy to destroy the church.

13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man _child_.

13. _And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth._ That is, when Satan saw that he was doomed to discomfiture and overthrow, _as if_ he had been cast out of heaven; when he saw that his efforts must be confined to the earth, and that only for a limited time, he “persecuted the woman,” and was more violently enraged against the church on earth. ¶ _He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man |child|._ See Notes on ver. 5. The child is represented as safe; that is, the ultimate progress and extension of the church was certain. But Satan was permitted still to wage a warfare against the church――represented here by his wrath against the woman, and by her being constrained to flee into the wilderness. It is unnecessary to say that, after the _Pagan_ persecutions ceased, and Christianity was firmly established in the empire; after Satan saw that all hope of destroying the church in that manner was at an end, his enmity was vented in another form――in the rise of the Papacy, and in the persecutions under that――an opposition to spiritual religion no less determined and deadly than that which had been waged by Paganism.

14 And to the woman were given two [391]wings of a great eagle,
that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where
she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from
the face of the serpent.

14. _And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle._ The most powerful of birds, and among the most rapid in flight. See Notes on ch. iv. 7. The meaning here is, that the {314} woman is represented as prepared for a rapid flight; so prepared as to be able to outstrip her pursuer, and to reach a place of safety. Divested of the figure, the sense is, that the church, when exposed to this form of persecution, would be protected _as if_ miraculously supplied with wings. ¶ _That she might fly into the wilderness._ There is here a more full description of what is briefly stated in ver. 6. A wilderness or desert is often represented as a place of safety from pursuers. Thus David (1 Sa. xxiii. 14, 15) is represented as fleeing into the wilderness from the persecutions of Saul. So Elijah (1 Ki. xix. 4) fled into the wilderness from the persecutions of Jezebel. The simple idea here is, that the church, in the opposition which would come upon it, would find a refuge. ¶ _Into her place._ A place appointed for her; that is, a place where she could be safe. ¶ _Where she is nourished._ The word here rendered _nourished_ is the same――τρέφω――which occurs in ver. 6, and which is there rendered _feed_. It means to feed, nurse, or nourish, as the young of animals (Mat. vi. 26; xxv. 37; Lu. xii. 24; Ac. xii. 20); that is, to sustain by proper food. The meaning here is, that the church would be kept alive. It is not indeed mentioned by whom this would be done, but it is evidently implied that it would be by God. During this long period in which the church would be in obscurity, it would not be suffered to become extinct. Comp. 1 Ki. xvii. 3‒6. ¶ _For a time, and times, and half a time._ A year, two years, and half a year; that is, forty-two months (see Notes on ch. xi. 2); or, reckoning the month at thirty days, twelve hundred and sixty days; and regarding these as prophetic days, in which a day stands for a year, twelve hundred and sixty years. For a full discussion of the meaning of this language, see Notes on Da. vii. 25; and Editor’s Pref. For the evidence, also, that the time thus specified refers to the Papacy, and to the period of its continuance, see the Notes on that place. The full consideration given to the subject there renders it unnecessary to discuss it here. For it is manifest that there is an allusion here to the passage in Daniel; that the twelve hundred and sixty days refer to the same thing; and that the true explanation must be made in the same way. The main difficulty, as is remarked on the Notes on that passage, is in determining the time when the Papacy properly commenced. If that could be ascertained with certainty, there would be no difficulty in determining when it would come to an end. But though there is considerable uncertainty as to the exact time when it arose, and though different opinions have been entertained on that point, yet it is true that all the periods assigned for the rise of that power lead to the conclusion that the time of its downfall cannot be remote. The meaning in the passage before us is, that during all the time of the continuance of that formidable, persecuting power, the true church would not in fact become extinct. It would be obscure and comparatively unknown, but it would still live. The fulfilment of this is found in the fact, that during all the time here referred to, there has been a true church on the earth. Pure, spiritual religion――the religion of the New Testament――has never been wholly extinct. In the history of the Waldenses, and Albigenses, the Bohemian brethren, and kindred people; in deserts and places of obscurity; among individuals and among small and persecuted sects; here and there in the cases of individuals in monasteries,[392] the true religion has been kept up in the world, as in the days of Elijah God reserved seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal: and it is possible now for us, with a good degree of certainty, to show, even during the darkest ages, and when Rome seemed to have entirely the ascendency, where the true church was. To find out this, was the great design of the Ecclesiastical History of Milner; it has been done, also, with great learning and skill, by Neander. ¶ _From the face of the serpent._ The dragon――or Satan represented by the dragon. Notes, ver. 3. The reference here is {315} to the opposition which Satan makes to the true church under the persecutions and corruptions of the Papacy.

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a [393]flood,
after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of
the flood.

15. _And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood._ This is peculiar and uncommon imagery, and it is not necessary to suppose that anything like this literally occurs in nature. Some serpents are indeed said to eject from their mouths poisonous bile when they are enraged, in order to annoy their pursuers; and some sea-monsters, it is known, spout forth large quantities of water; but the representation here does not seem to be taken from either of those cases. It is the mere product of the imagination, but the sense is clear. The woman is represented as having wings, and as being able thus to escape from the serpent. But, as an expression of his wrath, and as if with the hope of destroying her in her flight by a deluge of water, he is represented as pouring a flood from his mouth, that he might, if possible, sweep her away. The figure here would well represent the continued malice of the Papal body against the true church, in those dark ages when it was sunk in obscurity, and, as it were, driven out into the desert. That malice never slumbered, but was continually manifesting itself in some new form, as if it were the purpose of Papal Rome to sweep it entirely away. ¶ _That he might cause her to be carried away of the flood._ Might cause the church wholly to be destroyed. The truth taught is, that Satan leaves no effort untried to destroy the church.

16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her
mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of
his mouth.

16. _And the earth helped the woman._ The earth _seemed_ to sympathize with the woman in her persecutions, and to interpose to save her. The meaning is, that a state of things would exist in regard to the church thus driven into obscurity, which would be well represented by what is here said to occur. It was cut off from human aid. It was still in danger; still persecuted. In this state it was nourished from some unseen source. It was enabled to avoid the direct attacks of the enemy, and when he attacked it in a new form, a new mode of intervention in its behalf was granted, _as if_ the earth should open and swallow up a flood of water. We are not, therefore, to look for any _literal_ fulfilment of this, as if the earth interposed in some marvellous way to aid the church. The sense is, that, _in_ that state of obscurity and solitude, the divine interposition was manifested, in an unexpected manner, _as if_, when an impetuous stream was rolling along that threatened to sweep everything away, a chasm should suddenly open in the earth and absorb it. During the dark ages many such interventions occurred, saving the church from utter destruction. Overflowing waters are often in the Scriptures an emblem of mighty enemies. Ps. cxxiv. 2‒5, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us; then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul.” Ps. xviii. 16, “He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.” Je. xlvii. 2, “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land,” &c. Comp. Je. xlvi. 7, 8, and Notes on Is. viii. 7, 8. ¶ _And the earth opened her mouth._ A chasm was made sufficient to absorb the waters. That is, John saw that the church was safe from this attack, and that, in order to preserve it, there was an interposition as marked and wonderful as if the earth should suddenly open and swallow up a mighty flood.

17 And [394]the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went
to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

17. _And the dragon was wroth with the woman._ This wrath had been vented by his persecuting her (ver. 13); by his pursuing her; and by his pouring out the flood of water to sweep her away (ver. 15); and the same wrath was now vented against her children. As he could not reach and destroy the woman {316} herself, he turned his indignation against all who were allied to her. Stripped of the imagery, the meaning is, that as he could not destroy the church as such, he vented his malice against all who were the friends of the church, and endeavoured to destroy them. “The church, as such, he could not destroy; therefore he turned his wrath against individual Christians, to bring as many of them as possible to death” (De Wette). ¶ _And went to make war with the remnant of her seed._ No mention is made before of his persecuting the children of the woman, except his opposition to the “man child” which she bore, ver. 1‒4. The “woman” represents the church, and the phrase “the remnant of her seed” must refer to her scattered children, that is, to the scattered members of the church, wherever they could be found. The reference here is to persecutions against individuals, rather than a general persecution against the church itself, and all that is here said would find an ample fulfilment in the vexations and troubles of individuals in the Roman communion in the dark ages, when they evinced the spirit of pure evangelical piety; in the cruelties practised in the Inquisition on individual Christians under the plea that they were heretics; and in the persecutions of such men as Wycliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague. This warfare against individual Christians was continued long in the Papal church, and tens of thousands of true friends of the Saviour suffered every form of cruelty and wrong as the result. ¶ _Which keep the commandments of God._ Who were true Christians. This phrase characterizes correctly those who, in the dark ages, were the friends of God, in the midst of abounding corruption. ¶ _And have the testimony of Jesus Christ._ That is, they bore a faithful testimony to his truth, or were real _martyrs_. See ch. ii. 13.

The scene, then, in this chapter is this: John saw a most beautiful woman, suitably adorned, representing the church as about to be enlarged, and to become triumphant in the earth. Then he saw a great red monster, representing Satan, about to destroy the church: the Pagan power, infuriated, and putting forth its utmost energy for its destruction. He then saw the child caught up into heaven, denoting that the church would be ultimately safe, and would reign over all the world. Another vision appears. It is that of a contest between Michael, the protecting angel of the people of God, and the great foe, in which victory declares in favour of the former, and Satan suffers a discomfiture, _as if_ he were cast from heaven to earth. Still, however, he is permitted for a time to carry on a warfare against the church, though certain that he would be ultimately defeated. He puts forth his power, and manifests his hostility, in another form――that of the Papacy――and commences a new opposition against the spiritual church of Christ. The church is, however, safe from _that_ attempt to destroy it, for the woman is represented as fleeing to the wilderness beyond the power of the enemy, and is there kept alive. Still filled with rage, though incapable of destroying the true church itself, he turns his wrath, under the form of Papal persecutions, against individual Christians, and endeavours to cut them off in detail.

This is the _general_ representation in this chapter, and on the supposition that it was _designed_ to represent the various forms of opposition which Satan would make to the church of Christ, under Paganism and the Papacy, it must be admitted, I think, that no more expressive or appropriate symbols could have been chosen. This fact should be allowed to have due influence in confirming the interpretation suggested above; and _if_ it be admitted to be a correct interpretation, it is conclusive evidence of the inspiration of the book. Further _details_ of this opposition of Satan to the church under the _Papal_ form of persecution are made in the subsequent chapters.